SEO Cost Calculator: How Much Should You Budget for SEO Services?

Countless business owners and SEO service providers struggle with this question every day.

Because the web doesn’t operate in a vacuum, the specific requirements for a successful campaign can (and do) vary widely.

In short, it comes down to a matter of positioning – how does your website compare to your competitors. That position and how fast you want to make progress are the top variables for determining budget.

Expectations & Reality

A recent survey reported that less than half of all small businesses have an SEO budget.

Of those with an SEO budget, the majority (17 percent) spent less than $100/month. That’s right – 71 percent of small businesses budget $0 – $99/month for SEO.

This is further supported by the inquiries I receive from prospective clients.

This is why your inbox is spammed with promises of “guaranteed first-page results” for $99.

SEO spammers know the market. Their promise of first page results is hard to resist.

And let’s face it; most business owners have no idea how SEO works. They are far too busy running their businesses to spend time learning SEO.

In most businesses, there is a standardized step by step process to get from point A to point B. Many assume that SEO works the same way. They treat it as a commodity and have no qualms about using the lowest priced vendor.

The Cost of Cheap SEO

I belong to a number of internet marketing groups on Facebook. It’s truly frightening, the number of noobs posing as SEO professionals and taking on clients.

It’s not uncommon to see a question like: “I just landed a client that wants to rank for “keyword x” – how do I do it?”

A close second is the use of link schemes, specifically private blog networks (PBNs), without ever explaining the risk to clients.

If business owners were just throwing money away, by hiring an incompetent SEO, that would be bad enough.

Unfortunately, the collateral damage from “cheap SEO” can go much deeper. It can draw a Google penalty and virtually wipe out a website’s visibility on the web.

Business owners need to keep in mind they’re ultimately responsible for any SEO work performed on their site. They should discuss the specific tactics to be used, before entering into an agreement.

I would encourage any business owner that’s in it for the long term, to insist on using tactics that comply with Google Webmaster Guidelines.